Walking Out

You have a good year?

Uh, yeah. Sure

well, you sure grew some.

This year we have a moose tag.

A moose.

Yeah. I got

one picked out.

A bull.

I stalked him for two weeks.

Up there.

At the crazies.

Way up.

There's still

plenty of time to scare up

some grouse before dark.

Come on, David.

Put your legs into it.

Let's go!

We're burning daylight.

Remember, David, what did

I tell you about grouse?

I don't know.

Grouse are stupid and slow.

Not like ducks or grebes.

They even sound stupid.

Not like a quail, huh?

Come on. Let's hear

your best quail.

I really don't remember how.

Of course you do.

You were getting good

at it last year.

Louder.

Louder.

Loud enough for me to know

where you are

if we get separated.

It's how hunters say, "I'm here"

without tipping off the prey.

Your mother.

How is she?

Uh, I don't know.

She's... Alright.

Are you friends with her?

Am I friends with her?

Um. Yeah. I guess.

Is she still a beautiful lady?

I don't know.

What do you mean,

you don't know?

Of course you know.

Yeah, she's still a

beautiful lady, I guess.

She tell you

any messages for me?

Yeah. She..

Said that I should..

I should send you her love.

Well, thank you, David.

That's kind of you to say.

The next one's yours.

We're not going home

until you get

your first bird.

Now!

Find him.

Get behind him.

Come on up on him.

Come on up on him.

You blinked.

David! David!

It's alright, relax

and get your dinner.

Come on.

Breathe.

Safety.

Don't close your eyes.

You can't quit.

It's hard, I know.

Then it gets easier.

Alright?

All of a sudden

it gets very easy.

It's not easy.

It'll never be easy.

You'll get a bird.

I know you will.

Just use your muscle memory.

Easy, easy.

You hit him.

- You sure?

- Yeah, I'm sure.

You winged him.

He faltered and dropped.

I don't understand it.

You crippled him.

He couldn't have gone far.

I probably just didn't hit him.

You hit it, David.

I don't know how

you couldn't see that.

You never leave

what you shot behind.

If you had a dog, we could

find it right away.

We had a dog when I was little.

Why don't you have one now?

Since you're..

You know...

Already alone.

Isn't that what dogs are for?

I don't know what

dogs are for, David.

All I know is I don't give

that much love

to a creature

who would only live

a dozen or so years.

That bird must have

run off and hidden itself

to die in the darkness.

I'm sorry.

You used to sleep like a puppy

in the crook of my arm.

I remember that day.

It's like a memory of a memory.

Yeah.

That whole damn set-up

was your mother's idea.

She even got me to put

gunk in my hair.

That's a good picture

of grandpa.

- Did you take that?

- Mm-hmm.

You remember him at all?

Your grandfather?

I remember his funeral.

Oh, wasn't his best day exactly.

That's all I really

remember about him.

That and his face scratching me

when he kissed me.

Oh, yeah.

- Sandpaper.

- Yeah.

He always smelt of pipe tobacco.

Gunpowder.

Jack pine.

What about those moose?

What about moose?

Are they stupid and slow,

like grouse?

No.

No, moose are different.

They're regal.

Up in Alaska they get so tall

a grown man can walk

under a moose's belly

and never touch fur.

Oh, yeah. You'll see.

So... Why kill them then?

If they're so... Royal?

Well, they make 600 pounds

of delicious meat.

A winter's worth.

It is way better than

a Thanksgiving Turkey.

I told mom I'd call her

when I got here.

Well, you won't find

a signal up here.

Should have called her

from town.

About time you cut loose from

Katie's apron strings anyhow.

What, so there's..

There's no way

I can talk to her?

Well, there's always the

two-way in an emergency.

Emergency.

Are moose dangerous?

They're no joke.

Won't be like

one of your asinine games.

Can't start over at the

first sign of trouble.

This year we hunt big game.

This year you'll get

your first kill.

David.

Put that away.

Well, put that damn toy away.

I don't want to see it again.

If I do, I'll smash it

to smithereens.

You wearing long Johns?

It'll be freezing up above.

Long Johns, wool socks, mittens.

Mom went over

that checklist you sent

and doubled it.

She remembers

how cold it gets up here.

Mittens.

Mittens for her kittens.

Here.

Here's something

she didn't double.

That's simpler than

the over-and-under

you used yesterday.

It's heavier.

Packs a hell of a punch.

This is the rifle I shot

my first moose with

when I was 14.

Your grandfather

gave me this gun.

Safety. Click.

It's not moving

like those grouse though.

Well, if we come up

on that moose quiet

like we're meant to,

he won't be moving either.

Be a tad bit bigger

than a coffee can too.

His heart's about the same size.

Now breathe out slowly.

You won't need that

where we're going.

What if it keeps snowing?

Or we get lost?

You worry too much.

Like your mother.

I'm just not used to being so..

Remote.

Well, you're not remote.

You're with me.

And we are here.

Just up that drainage.

At the head of the creek.

How far is it?

Five miles, give or take.

We won't barely break a sweat.

Is that where you saw the moose?

No. That's where I saw

the Sheepman's hut.

The moose is up further.

How much further?

All the way further.

It's up on top.

We have to sleep in a hut?

Yeah.

Why didn't we just bring a tent?

Why should we

haul a tent up there

when we already have

a perfectly good hut?

I..

I don't want to sleep all

squashed up next to you..

In a smelly Sheepman's hut.

You just think what

you'll tell those kids

back in briar Meadow.

Hm?

How primal you'll feel

knowing you came home

from a good kill.

I don't want to kill a moose.

It's an old Sheepman's hut

and it's near

where we're going to hunt

and I can fix it up

dry and warm and good.

I thought you might like that.

I thought it might be

more fun than a tent.

But we don't have

to do it, alright?

We can drive back to town

and buy a tent

or I can drive you back

to the cabin

and we can hunt birds.

Whatever you want to do.

Or I can put you

right back on a plane.

One leaves every single day.

No, I..

Want to.

Are you sure?

No. I just..

Just want to.

Oh! Whoa, whoa,

whoa, whoa.

- You alright?

- Yeah, I'm fine.

- You okay?

- Yeah.

Who made this trail

anyway? The Sheepman?

No, deer and elk.

They know the shortest way

between the seasons.

I thought you said the

moose were above the hut.

At the top.

We have to be careful now.

We may scare up a bear.

- A bear?

- Yeah.

Dad, you didn't

say anything about a bear.

Yeah, there's no need

to worry. Okay?

You don't have to

be faster than sir bear.

Just faster than your old man.

Come on.

Come on.

I don't think I am faster

than my old man.

You're stronger than you know.

I know.

I was you once.

Yeah, well.

I lose every race

at school, so..

Well, they don't have

actual bears

out in Briarwood, Texas,

now, do they?

No.

I'll put myself

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